Finnish-American folk musicians Sara Pajunen and Jonathan Rundman were barely acquainted eleven months ago, but fate threw them together. The local duo, now known as Kaivama, accepted a short-notice plea from a talent booker at a Finnish festival in South Dakota, even though they had never played together and had only met once before. Now, just a year after their first shaky gig, Kaivama booked a solid summer of shows, released their debut album, and played a packed set at the Cedar Cultural Center—a whirlwind success story for an accidental band.
Kaivama’s all-instrumental music draws on the Northwoods culture of long winters, pinewood saunas and the rugged beauty of solitude. The landscapes of their Lake Superior childhoods (Pajunen's in Minnesota and Rundman's in Michigan), as well as the culture of the Finnish-immigrant communities in which they grew up, echo in the music of their self-titled debut album.
Pajunen lends her classically trained chops to the band's sound, her plaintive, electrifying fiddle forming the foundation of the album. Rundman, who moved to Edina with his wife after the birth of his son, is a virtuosic multi-instrumentalist whose rugged, American sensibility gives Kaivama its modern edge as he employs acoustic guitar, banjo, electric Wurlitzer and his grandfather's foot-pump harmonium to round out each song. We caught up with them in the middle of their album release tour to find out more about their music, and the story behind it.
Q. From what I understand, you're something of an accidental band.
Sara Pajunen: Kaivama was born out of necessity. I was tapped to headline a Finnish folk festival in Frederick, South Dakota, and asked Jonathan to come along.
Jonathan Rundman: We were barely acquainted at this point; we met briefly at a different folk festival, but had never played together, and had written no songs together. As I like to say, we had a gig before we were a band.
Q. And you were the headliners!
JR: We had to cram just to have enough material to play our first gig. We didn't know each other personally at all. We didn’t even have a name!
SP: We didn't know each other, we didn't have a name, and we had no material—but we had this big gig. And about three weeks to prep. It was surreal.
JR: But when we got there, we had a blast, and the audience really responded to us. We just kind of looked at each other when it was over and we thought, “Wow, what have we gotten ourselves into?”
Q. Tell me about the band name you came up with.
JR: It's from the Finnish root 'Kaiva,' which means to delve or to dig. This is our first real experience with Nordic folk, but both Sara and I are keen to explore it more deeply. It's exciting to tap into our family backgrounds. We're both Finnish Americans from strong Finnish communities, so it feels very natural.
SP: I'm a classically trained violinist, so I come from more of a concert hall background. But now that I've found folk music, I know it's the place I should be. I've found a very happy place within the folk music of Finland.
JR: We also come from serious mining towns. I'm from Ishpeming, Michigan, and Sara's from Hibbing, so we both grew up around these vast open-pit iron ore mines.
Q. The festival in Frederick could have been a one-off thing, but you stuck together, formed a band, toured the country and now you're releasing an album. What makes it work?
SP: Jonathan and I complement each other well in many, many different ways. It just clicked, and it's working.
JR: Sara's musical life has been spent in study, graduate school and conservatories, whereas I have no real formal training. I've just been on the road, writing and performing, since I was eighteen. We have these totally different histories in the music world but they're very complimentary.
Q. What's the strangest thing that's happened to you on the tour?
SP: Instrument mishaps, unfortunately. A dropped violin, a chipped violin, and a broken mandolin. That hasn't been so fun.
Q. Where do you go for a last-minute mandolin?
JR: Luckily we have a friend in Duluth who teaches mandolin workshops. We called him up and he rushed one to the gig. He really bailed us out.
Q. One of the songs on your new album is called “Edina Speed Trap.” What’s the inspiration behind that?
JR: I live in Edina, and when I moved here I realized there are two speed traps that you've got to watch out for: one of them is on 50th Street and the other one is on Xerxes Avenue. The cops hang out there waiting to get you—they're there all the time. So when we were collecting songs for the album, I dug out this speedy, aggressive little tune that didn’t have a name and christened it “Edina Speed Trap.”
Q. Have you ever been busted in one of said speed traps?
JR: You know, since the song came out, I have never, ever sped on those streets. It's the perfect antidote, because I remember the song and then I take it down to twenty-five miles per hour.
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You can pick up a copy of Kaivama’s self-titled debut album at Homestead Pickin' Parlour, 6625 Penn Ave. S., 612.861.3308, homesteadpickinparlor.com; or online through the band’s website.
IF YOU GO
Kaivama returns to the Cedar Cultural center at the end of the month, opening for the internationally touring Finnish fiddle band Frigg.
Frigg, with Kaivama
September 28th, 7:30PM
$18 advance, $20 day of show. All ages.
Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave. S., Mpls.
612.338.2674; thecedar.org
